JACKSON, Tenn. –
Jordan Black's cycle in game one guided the Spring Hill College baseball team to sweep a road conference doubleheader against Lane College this afternoon. The Badgers took game one 14-5 and won game two 10-3. Spring Hill in the series outscored the Dragons 44 to eight. With the two wins, the Badgers have now won seven straight.
Spring Hill is now 22-12 and 17-4 in the SIAC, while Lane dropped to 9-20 and 7-13.
Spring Hill is back home on Tuesday, March 31, when it hosts the University of West Florida at 6 p.m.
Game 1: Spring Hill 14, Lane 5
Up 3-0, Spring Hill broke the game open in the top of the fifth as it plated four runs on four hits. With one down,
Jordan Black homered to left to push the lead to, 4-0. The Dragons were able to record the second out of the frame, but
Gavin Moran kept the inning alive with a walk, and he then scored off
John Webb's RBI triple to right center.
Andrew Juez's single through the right side scored Webb to make it 6-0 before the bases ended up loaded. Juez later scored when
Angel Rivera was hit by a pitch to put the Badgers up 7-0 before the inning ended.
Lane in the second half of the fifth cut the lead to three when it pushed four runs across on two hits and a pair of errors to trail, 7-4.
The Badgers in the sixth got three of the four runs back. It started when Black tripled down the right field line and then scored on
Jaylen Jones' RBI single to left. Jones later stole second and then third. Webb pushed a single through the left side to plate Jones and make it 9-0. He then tallied back-to-back steals to end up on third. With runners now on the corners,
George Bode dropped down a sacrifice bunt to first to score Juez to make it 10-4 before a groundout ended the inning.
The Dragons added a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to five.
Spring Hill in the eighth pushed its lead to 14-5 after plating four more runs on three hits.
The Badger bullpen allowed three base runners and no runs over three and two-thirds of an inning, while striking out four.
Starting pitcher
Wyatt Brown allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits over five and a third innings to earn his fourth win (4-0) of the season. He struck out six in the process.
Six different players tallied two hits or more, with Black pacing all hitters with four hits.
Black finished the game going 4-for-6, hitting for the cycle (double, home run, triple, and triple). He tallied three RBIs and two runs scored.
Webb, Juez, Jones, Rivera, and Lopez combined to go 10-for-23 with eight runs scored, eight RBIs, three doubles, and a triple.
Game 2: Spring Hill 10, Lane 3 – 7 inns.
Following back-to-back scoreless innings, Spring Hill broke through in the top of the third.
Eli Benoit led off with a double to right, then
Alex Roux walked to put runners on first and second. Benoit moved to third on Black's fielder's choice, which allowed him to reach first. Roux was out on the play at second. The bases ended up loaded when Jones reached on a fielder's choice.
The Badgers got on the board when Moran singled home Benoit to go up 1-0 with one out. Both Black and Jones then scored off Webb's two-run double to right-center to push the lead to 3-0 and send Moran to third. Juez's two-run single through the left side plated both Webb and Moran to give Spring Hill a 5-0 lead before the inning ended.
Spring Hill in the top of the fourth pushed three runs across on a two-run home run and an RBI single to take a 9-0 lead, and in the fifth, the Badgers added another run to go up 10-0.
Lane in the bottom of the sixth plated three runs on two hits to make it a 10-3 game. The Dragons then went down in order in the seventh.
Starting pitcher Ray Ocha struck out seven, scattered five hits over five and a third innings, while giving up three runs (two earned). Reliever
Bryce Coe struck out three and gave up a hit in an inning and two-thirds.
Juez paced all hitters with two hits and was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Fellow teammate Black was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a triple.
Jones capped the game off, going 1-for-3 with a home run, a pair of runs, and two RBIs.
